Future Balarume
Future Balarume is an alternate setting designed for Shadowrun, set approximately 1,000 years after the common fantasy era Balarume. (~2330 Common Calendar or ~3700 by the Orc Calendar). Nations & Regions The Bridge Government The Bridge is governed by the Corporate Council, which traces its roots back to the Oligarchy Council over 1,000 years ago. Corporations rated A through AAA with their headquarters located in the Bridge are granted a seat in the Corporate Council. A-rated corporations are granted one vote, AA corporations are granted two votes and AAA corporations are granted three votes plus veto power on proposals. Corporate Court The Corporate Court settles disputes between corporations. All AAA corporations, regardless of location, are granted one seat and one vote on the Court. In addition to Judicial duties, the corporate court also determines the guidelines for rating corporations from AAA (global megacorporations) down to C (regional corporations). Currency Credits are the official currency of The Bridge. Credits are primarily a digital currency, although cash transactions still exist. Most other nations still have their own currencies, but Credits are popular and accepted around the world due to their stable nature and backing by the Corporate Court. Credits incorporate a number of security measures that make them impossible to counterfeit. Districts Old Bridge (Security rating: A) The Old Bridge is the original stone bridge, repaired many times over the years. This expensive district is a popular tourist destination and residential district for those who can afford it, and the buildings here are built in the brick and mortar style of the bridge’s original construction. North Bridge (Security rating: A-B) The North Bridge is a high-density residential district and commercial district, built over the water parallel to the Old Bridge’s route. Skyscrapers and highrise apartments form an impressive skyline, and North Bridge is home to the headquarters of no less than three of the six AAA megacorporations. South Bridge (Security rating: B-C) The South Bridge is a large mass of interconnected floating islands and barges to the south of Old Bridge. Here, factories and heavy industry churn away day and night producing all manner of goods. Archipelago (Security rating: AAA) The Archipelago is a collection of floating islands off the northern end of The Bridge, and home corporate executives, celebrities and other wealthy persons of importance. Tiraguard Sprawl (Security rating: B-C) Built on solid ground across the border in Tiraguard, this sprawl is home to those not quite wealthy enough or lacking a corporate sponsor to live within The Bridge proper. Morianna Sprawl (Security rating: C-F) Built across the Morianna border, this crime-infested sprawl provides low income housing, a thriving black market, and plenty of territory for opportunistic gangers to test their strength. Morianna Morianna is a constitutional monarchy, governed by an elected parliament. The King is largely a figurehead and although foreign relations and judicial matters still officially fall under his jurisdiction, the King requires the approval of parliament before he can act. The ruling class is still very much autocratic, with many parliament members directly descended from the houses of Lords and closely related (both by blood and money) to the dozen or so companies locked in cutthroat competition to become Morianna’s first AAA megacorporation. Dwarven Lands Not technically a country in the traditional sense, the Dwarven Lands are an overlapping mess of corporate territories. Some corporations proudly trace their roots back to the dwarven clans of old, while others reject the antiquity of such titles. Besides SBD Inc. (a AAA megacorporation), most corporations in the Dwarven Lands are rated between A and C. Dwarves are born into corporate citizenship and expected to work in their parent’s company, but there is strong competition (sometimes up to and including armed conflict) to recruit or steal talented individuals and teams away from rival corporations. Orcish Lands The discovery of oil in the Orcish Lands launched a new level conflict that SBD, Inc. was happy to supply by way of Morianna and Moringuard funding their prefered sides in proxy wars. Eventually the orcs organized themselves enough to reach a rough peace (or, more precisely, a cold war) between the different factions and nation states that arose around the oil fields. Although there are no hot wars at the moment, border skirmishes are common and travelers should be warned that Orc Landers are particularly suspicious of outsiders. Tiraguard The Druidic Council did it’s best to hold out against the industrial revolution as long as possible, but in the early 2100s an incursion of drow miners and loggers from Moringuard, backed by Thanatos mercenaries armed with flintlock rifles, forced Tiraguard to finally face that fact that firearms, steam engines, and technology were the way of the future. The authoritarian government of Tiraguard imposes harsh restrictions on freedoms of speech and press that other nations may take for granted, but offers citizens a markedly higher standard of living with fewer slums and a relatively low crime rate. Moringuard In the land of devils, demons and drow there is only one authority: Thanatos Corporation. They are the government, and a benevolent one too unless you tread on their profit margins, and Moringuard has a surplus of job openings for qualified individuals. Unlike many corporations in Morianna (where family and old money reign supreme) and Tiraguard (good luck if you’re not an elf), Thanatos is an equal-opportunity employer that rewards competence and results above all else. Moringuard has experienced an uptick of immigration in recent decades by those looking for employment and promotion opportunities. Megacorporations Megacorporations are the largest businesses in the world, employing hundreds of thousands of wage slaves and boasting annual budgets rivaling national governments. They are incredibly diverse with fingers in nearly every pot but each has a particular specialty. Thanatos Corporation (Corporate Rating: AAA, #1) Headquarters: Moringuard With a devil for a CEO, Thanatos corporation has a reputation for efficiency and never missing a product release deadline. They produce the clothes, toys, appliances, electronics and household goods adapted to the needs of all manner of races and peoples, available at (any) retailer near you. Bedrock Global Enterprises (Corporate Rating: AAA, #2) Headquaters: The Bridge Bedrock GE builds cars, trucks, planes, robots, buildings, supertankers, factories, skyscrapers and almost anything else you can think of. By employees and revenue, they are the largest presence in South Bridge and that’s only a fraction of their industrial capacity. SBD Incorporated (Corporate Rating: AAA, #3) Headquarters: The Dwarven Lands Some say SBD stands for singed beard dwarves, a name the corporation’s lawyers are quick to refute. In any case, SBD is the premier supplier of military goods and weapons in Balarume. They also offer one of the more advanced space programs, with several satellite launch facilities near the coast of the Dwarven Lands and successful probe landings on both moons. Paragon Digital Technologies (Corporate Rating: AAA, #4) Headquaters: The Bridge Paragon practically invented the matrix and cybernetics singlehandedly, which shouldn’t surprise anyone following the company’s history or hiring practices. Behind the impressive glass skyscrapers and polished advertising campaign, Paragon snaps up talented prospective employees and protects its investments with an impressive ferocity.' ' Dentro Consolidated (Corporate Rating: AAA, #5) Headquarters: Tiraguard Just because the Druidic Council’s policy of harmony with nature and rejection of technology held Tiraguard back for a century or two doesn’t mean the elves haven’t caught up. Dentro specializes in medical and biotechnology, and their elite clinics in Il’Arom are second to none when it comes to bioware, and only a (non-augmented) stone’s throw behind Paragon in cyberware. Gindel-Cormage (Corporate Rating: AAA, #6) Headquaters: The Bridge Gindel-Cormage corporation claims to trace its heritage back to the medieval Magic Association, and specializes in magical goods and services. Although GC is not as powerful as they once were, their mages are second-to-none in keeping old magical devices running and developing new ways to work in the ever-changing manasphere.' ' International Criminal Syndicates Diavolos Cartel The Diavolos Cartel hails from Moringuard, but has a healthy following of drow and other metahumans in every slum. Rumor says They deal in BTLs, drugs, and metahuman trafficking. Efkinsia The oldest syndicate, Efkinsia is a primarily-elf syndicate that formed in opposition to the Druidic Council in the late 2000s, as the need for modernization in Tiraguard became rapidly apparent. They deal in weapons and illicit magical goods, but are known to smuggle anything to anywhere or anyone for the right price (including many high class clients). Roc Roc The Roc Rocs is an all-male, mixed orc/human syndicate that started on the ever-changing border of Morianna and the Orc Lands. Members pledge to the Roc Roc for life, and every leader started out as street enforces or other low-level thug before working his way up the ladder. They deal in drugs, gambling, fight rings, illicit cyberware. ' ' Technology Energy Future Balarume is powered by fossil fuels: coal and natural gas from the Dwarven Lands run most electrical power plans and industry, and vehciles run on oil from the Orc Lands. Recent rumors of oil under the ocean between the islands east of Tiraguard have brought the interest of several corporations to the region. Due to ongoing shifts in the manasphere, nuclear fission and fusion do not work reliability in Balarume. (Balarume does not posses nuclear power or nuclear weapons.) Strategic Weapons Most major governments, and even some of the megacorporations, possess strategic bombing capability in the form of long ranged heavy bombers or ballistic missiles. SBD Inc., Morianna, Tiraguard and Thanatos Corporation also possess kinetic bombardment (thor shot) satellites as a deterrent force. Thanatos Corporation, Morianna, and several groups in the Orcish Lands and Dwarven lands are known to have chemical weapons; Gindel-Cormage, The Bridge and Tiraguard have magical strategic weapons from past ages in reserve; and Tiraguard is rumored to have labs capable of deploying biological weapons.